Went to flats

[Gab124]

Ok, I have been playing rounds for 20 years, and after reading in string forums for a while I decided to give some flats a try. I play mostly jam genre finger style funk-jazz/rock. No slapping or other such things. I play through a 97 Warwick Corvette 4 and a TFunk550B/Aguilar 112 with a 212 as an extension. First impressions are that I really like them, gives me a nice contrast of low end without too much finger noise. Weird thing though, I bought two kinds to try, Chromes and sit powerflats-both 45-100. After trying both I had mixed emotions. I liked the chromes a lot, but not the d and g strings, they just seemed to have little sustain, although the e and a had great sound and sustain. Put on the powerflats and just the opposite, the d and g had good sustain and clarity and the e and a just seemed dead with no "air" about them. So, I split the diff and mixed the sets. Just opened a new chapter in my bass life me thinks...
Gab

[fearceol]

On your next string change try "Thomastik-Infeld" jazz flats. There are great reviews of them throughout these forums. They are pricey but worth it.

[russjm]

I'm thinking of trying flats again on my Lakland JO, but my last experiment with flats was a set of medium LaBella Deep Talkers on an old precision. They felt really nice to play, but the E string was just dead, with very little sustain it put me off them.

I might try again, but with the Thomastiks this time.

[seanm]

I get the medium (50-105) set of Chromes. I find that the G string is much better at 50 than 45. YMMV.

[LoveThatBass]

Originally Posted by seanm

I get the medium (50-105) set of Chromes. I find that the G string is much better at 50 than 45. YMMV.

I find the same thing.
A perfect set for me would be .050-.100

[seanm]

Originally Posted by LoveThatBass

I find the same thing.
A perfect set for me would be .050-.100

You can buy the strings individually. They are expensive, juststrings.com has a 50 for $7US, but given the long life of flatwounds, it might be worth it.

[Gab124]

Had not thought of that. Great, I may just order one of those. Someone also mentioned the TI jazz flats as being very good, and I know that I have read the details in all the other posts, just don't want to go back. Are they as bright as the chromes and as tight? Thought someone said they are a bit more on the floppy side.
Thanks

[seanm]

Think of the TI jazz flats as very smooth roundwounds. So they are not tight like a regular flatwound and, IRRC, they are bright. But it has been years since I used them......

[Joe Beets]

My 32 inch TI's are .043 - .056 - .070 - .106. I used to love the Chromes, the sound and especially the tautness. When playing aggressively, the tautness compensates for less than perfect right hand technique. Or too many beers before going onstage. A few years ago I switched to the TI's. Good sound, but a little floppy, especially when tuned down. But I worked with them for a while and now have a very light touch with the right hand. There are several benefits to this. My basses are set up with a low action. In fact, when another bass player tries mine out they usually say something like, "Jeez your strings are low, this feels like a guitar." But I can still get an aggressive "thump" when I need to if I'm careful about it. Also, with the looser strings, it seems to be easier to play fast and clean. Thumping heavy and tight strings takes more motion and energy. It's sort of like my old DB intructor used to say, "Good technique causes less fatigue. You don't want to get Carpal Tunnel, do you????" I got Carpal anyway, but I can see his point. Anyway string choice is very personal, but for $40, I'd give the TI's a shot.

[Gab124]

Thanks for the info. I will likely try them at some point. Interesting points you made about tension, technique is always something I should work on.